Each year, there are between 250,000 and 300,000 avoidance manoeuvres for the Starlink constellation alone. This figure highlights the transformation of low Earth orbit into a high-tension zone. Considering that a small bolt propelled at 28,000 km/h can pierce a satellite’s shielding, the issue of space debris management has become critical.
Orbital space has become a statistical battlefield where every avoided collision represents tens of millions of euros saved. With more than 9,300 operational Starlink satellites and around 40,000 objects tracked daily, monitoring this environment largely relies on American infrastructure. It’s a strategic dependency that Europe can no longer ignore.
“Previously, we would send a satellite into space and occasionally perform a small manoeuvre to keep it in orbit,” explains Nicolas Frouvelle, Marketing Director for Space Operations at Sopra Steria. “Now we have much more agile and intelligent satellites that can manoeuvre, move and potentially be used in non-nominal ways. The paradigm has completely changed with Starlink.”
Faced with congestion and the concentration of surveillance data in the hands of a few players, Sopra Steria has chosen to develop ASTREK, a European platform designed to detect orbital threats and unite the space ecosystem around a sovereign capability. The approach contrasts with dominant proprietary models. Instead, rather than centralising, it focuses on openness and cooperation.
The invisible dependency
Space surveillance relies on a global network of radars and telescopes capable of detecting objects larger than 10 centimetres in low Earth orbit – the current technical limit with the sensors available. Yet with only 40,000 objects tracked out of millions of debris in circulation, coverage remains partial.
This global infrastructure conceals a major vulnerability. “All space surveillance systems are currently dependent on American data, because most telescopes and radars are American,” says Frouvelle. The conclusion is unequivocal – if political decisions were to cut off access to these data flows tomorrow, Europe would be left blind.
ASTREK is built on an open architecture capable of connecting to all types of sensors and aggregating their data to produce what is known as an enhanced catalogue. The platform correlates, filters and validates measurements using orbital propagation algorithms capable of calculating trajectories in seconds. “We collect data from all these sensors, create a catalogue that is as complete and accurate as possible, and are able to detect any new orbital threat very quickly,” explains Frouvelle.
Detection follows a rigorous process designed to eliminate false positives. An object is considered a potential threat only if it is detected by multiple sensors with coherent trajectories. “If it already exists, we track it and detect whether it has deviated from its trajectory. If it is a new object, it will be considered a potential threat only if multiple sensors detect it,” he says. This multi-source approach removes artifacts while progressively building detailed knowledge of each catalogued object.
Europe as a unifier rather than a follower
ASTREK’s differentiating factor lies not only in its technical capability, but in its governance model. “The concept behind ASTREK is to work together,” says Frouvelle. “To be competitive at both French and European levels, each industrial player will be able to connect to ASTREK by adding value, a service, AI capabilities, or a new propagation algorithm.”
The platform aims to unite the European space ecosystem. Initially France, with CNES and the Ministry of the Armed Forces, then expanded to Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy or Spain. “We are already well positioned with CNES and the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to create catalogues,” explains Frouvelle. This national legitimacy forms the basis for expansion, with around 10 companies already expressing interest in joining the federation planned for early 2027.
Building this trust requires overcoming reluctance related to sharing sensitive data. ASTREK incorporates security and traceability mechanisms that allow for multiple levels of data dissemination depending on the client. “We can implement different protocols depending on the nature of a satellite, whether commercial or military,” says Frouvelle. Securing systems and exchanges is not an add-on, but an architectural prerequisite.
Debris or threats: Drawing the line
Space surveillance has evolved. It is no longer limited to avoiding collisions with inert debris but now includes detecting suspicious behaviour such as satellites approaching critical infrastructure, undeclared manoeuvres and signal jamming. “When we monitor debris, we track trajectories. But when a geopolitical dimension overlays this, new constraints arise,” explains Frouvelle.
Protocols differ radically. Avoiding debris is a matter of orbital mechanics. Responding to a competing satellite approaching a French satellite requires decision-making that goes beyond pure science. “The decision-makers are not the same. You have to gather military-level information about the country that launched the satellite, how it is declared, the nature of our current relations with that country and what we can or cannot do,” he says.
This hybridisation between civilian surveillance and military intelligence illustrates the evolution of space into a contested strategic domain. “It is no coincidence that space is becoming increasingly militarised,” observes Frouvelle. Examples are accumulating -- satellites jammed over Ukraine, unsolicited proximity operations by foreign spacecraft. Space has become a terrain of indirect confrontation where every manoeuvre is interpreted within a geopolitical context.
Kessler: When one collision triggers hundreds
The ultimate risk has a name – the Kessler effect. This is a chain reaction in which one collision generates thousands of debris fragments that in turn cause further collisions, rendering certain orbits unusable for decades. “A collision can potentially trigger dozens or hundreds of others, and that is when it becomes truly problematic,” warns Frouvelle.
This scenario is no longer theoretical. In December 2025, a fragmentation of a Starlink satellite was detected and rapidly characterised by our teams in collaboration with CNES. “We were able to detect these fragments very quickly, characterise five of them, determine their orbits, and now they are integrated into the general catalogue as new objects,” explains Frouvelle. The example illustrates the need to react within minutes to prevent an isolated event from becoming catastrophic.
The consequences of a large-scale Kessler effect would be immediate on our daily lives. “Each individual uses around 50 satellites per day without realising it,” points out Frouvelle. “A smartphone connects to between 10 to 30 GPS or GNSS satellites daily. We rely on them for weather forecasts, internet, television, telephone. Everything now passes through satellites.” From communications, to navigation, finance, hospitals or military operations, losing access to this infrastructure, even temporarily, would paralyse the economy.
The orbital Wild West
Regulating orbital space suffers from a paradox. International standards exist, such as deorbiting within 15 years, frequency declarations and collision prevention. But enforcing them remains difficult. “It is a bit like the Wild West with sheriffs,” explains Frouvelle. “In Westerns, some sheriffs manage to impose their law, others less so.”
The problem worsens when private actors control both launchers and constellations. “If one day Elon Musk or Donald Trump decides to turn off the taps and say that from tomorrow all space surveillance data will be paid and very expensive, we would be in serious trouble,” warns Frouvelle. Starlink controls around 72% of operated satellites, nearly 90% in low Earth orbit. Concentration has reached levels where a few individual decisions could paralyse global surveillance.
This dangerous strategic dependency explains the urgency of developing a European sovereign capability. “We find ourselves completely dependent on two or three very large industrial players who will make the rules, I fear,” warns Frouvelle. It’s this risk that drives the need for a platform capable not only of autonomously monitoring space, but also of influencing regulatory decisions. “The only solution is more about limiting the number of launches than thinking about what we will do the day there is too much debris,” he says.
Rebounding through constraint
Sopra Steria embraces a dual role which encompasses technological and strategic. “Rather than lamenting that a large part of the market is already taken, we look at our added value and how we can remain competitive, or even outperform in certain areas,” says Frouvelle. These areas include cybersecurity of systems, management of sensitive data and complex space operations – domains where business expertise outweighs sheer computing power.
This approach has generated a paradoxical effect: a rebound of the European space industry stimulated by the threat of marginalisation. “It has pushed us to make enormous progress in propulsion, sensors and software, because we realised we needed much more powerful software, much more data and greater security,” he says. Constraint has accelerated the modernisation of the French and European ecosystem.
In this battle for control of Earth’s orbit, ASTREK embodies a strategy of technological sovereignty that rejects dependency while acknowledging interdependence. By uniting European stakeholders around an open, secure and high-performance platform, Sopra Steria is betting on cooperation as a response to concentration. An approach that may prove sustainable in a domain where collective survival necessarily outweighs individual competition.